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$7B plus unearthed from audits transferred to Treasury – Finance Minister
The phased transfer of billions of dollars discovered during Government’s forensic audits has begun as scheduled. The first set of monies transferred to the Treasury totaled over $7B. The money includes $1B from the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), with the rest from the Lotto Funds, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and other agencies.
Kaieteur News confirmed that several dormant accounts which were holding millions of dollars were also closed this year. The second transfer of monies will be done early next year.
It was in May that the Granger-led administration expended some $133M of taxpayers’ dollars on a series of forensic audits to ascertain how the assets of the state were sold, disposed of or transferred under the previous administration.
Several audits were also launched in July while others started in later weeks. While the report on NICIL has been completed for over a month, those on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) have been completed for even longer.
Finance Minister, Winston Jordan
The forensic audit into NICIL recently revealed $26B was kept out of the Treasury. The entire sum will however be transferred to the Consolidated Fund in a phased manner as well.
As for the forensic audit launched into the Environmental Protection Agency, Junior Finance Minister, Jaipaul Sharma who is in charge of the audits, revealed that this has been completed since August. He had said that the audit uncovered that the entity has been holding some 15 accounts with millions of dollars.
A reliable source revealed that the monies total over $400M. Kaieteur News understands that recommendations were made for the monies to be transferred to the Consolidated Fund.
The Forensic audit revealed that the agency was apparently receiving monies from various agencies and opening a new account every time it received large sums.
Sharma explained that the agency should not have done that. He said that it should have held one account and categorized its expenses.
The Environmental Protection Agency was established on World Environment Day, June 5, 1996. It was on this date that the then Acting President of Guyana, Samuel Hinds, assented to Environmental Protection Act (No 11, 1996).
The Act mandates the Agency to oversee the effective management, conservation, protection and improvement of the environment.
It also requires that the Agency takes the necessary measures to ensure the prevention and control of pollution, assessment of the impact of economic development on the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources.
The Agency’s work enables Guyana to contribute to global and national environmental protection and conservation.
As part of its work the EPA implements education, regulation and enforcement programmes and uses partnership and collaborative approaches to strengthen the impact of its interventions.
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